Chapter 582 - uu

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In the Shadows by Some Guy In An Ambulance

 Anime » One Piece Rated: M, English, Adventure & Crime, Absalom, G. Moria, Shichibukai, Words: 137k+, Favs: 788, Follows: 955, Published: May 10, 2019 Updated: Oct 30387Chapter 28

"Puru puru puru."

Ahh, my head. Where is that god awful noise coming from?

"Puru puru puru…puru puru puru."

Opening my eyes, the early morning sunshine crested over the horizon, and cut through the haze of night. I sat up from my patch of grass, looking about. Sprawled around me, in every direction were a motley bunch of pirates. Looks like they're passed out drunk from last night's revelry.

"Puru puru puru."

Lord have mercy, my head! Last night might've been more wild then I remember. Ugh, besides the loss of control, this is why I didn't drink. However…when a Yonko says drink, you drink! I reached into my pocket, pulled out a shadow, and absorbed it. Hangover cured! Now then, where is this bothersome noise coming from?

"Puru puru puru."

Ah. It's my den den mushi! Let's see what's so pressing that they called this early in the morning. Pulling the snail out, I went to answer the call, when an arm stopped me mid motion.

"Yo." Standing before me, the grinning redhead, Shanks, casually gripped my arm, preventing it from moving. I felt a pressure settle over me, stronger than anything I'd ever faced before.

"Ah!" I flinched; my entire body shook in a moment of panic. Whitebeard's fist was vividly placed in my imagination the moment I laid eyes on the Yonko.

"Some party last night, I'd heard rumors your crew could throw down with the best of them. I didn't believe them, but now that I've experienced it, seeing is believing!" I wore a big smile, trying to recover from my goof. The entire time, Shanks's arm didn't move from it's spot, restraining my movement.

"You know, I'd be inclined to believe you, but those are some tall words coming from a snitch."

I started to sweat. Was this it? "You misunderstand!"

"Puru puru puru"

"Of course, what you told us about Teach last night sure was enlightening." Shanks spoke over me, and tightened his grip. My whole arm, no, my entire body felt like it was in an immovable vice.

At this point, I was desperate. I licked my lips, and tried to flatter Shanks. "Ki shi shi, and everyone around the world says that people from the East Blue are weak cowards, you showed them."

"Ha ha ha ha ha! The guy's will get a hoot out of this one!" Raucous laughter spewed out of Shanks' mouth. His grip slightly loosened, as a few tears spilt down his face.

I grinned along. I always thought Shanks was an easy going, laid back guy. Success!

"Puru puru puru."

Then the pressure came back three times as intense, quick as lighting. My pupils dilated as I felt shock from the sudden and unexpected pain. Any more pressure, and the arm breaks!

"No Gecko Moria, I am from the West Blue. As are you. I know how you operate. The world may have forgotten about you when you fled to the Florian Triangle, tail tucked behind your legs. It's been over a decade, but I haven't forgotten. Did you really think I would come here, to this random island in the middle of nowhere to party, when there's much more fun to be had in the Grand Line?" Shanks' overly wide smile from earlier had transitioned into a face I could only describe as being the embodiment of 'serious.'

I'm not going to say it outloud, but yeah. I kind of did think he decided to randomly party here.

"That look in your eye. It's telling me you thought I did come to this island randomly to party, am I right?"

How did he-

"How did I know? It doesn't matter, what matters is this. I know you, your modus operandi. Wherever you go, death and destruction are sure to follow. Some friends of mine told me about your little operation here in East Blue. I think we've got ourselves a little, shall we say, conflict of interest. You see, many of the islands here, in East Blue, are under my protection. I'll allow you to play your little games in Goa Kingdom, you couldn't be much worse than the previous ruler. However, step one toe out of line, and don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Puru puru puru."

"That call sounds important, you should take it. Nice clothes by the way." Releasing my arm, and resuming his stereotypically wide grin, Shanks walked away, past his passed out crew, and took up conversation with Yasopp.

The moment he let go of my arm, I began to rapidly inhale and exhale air. It felt like an insurmountable weight had been lifted off my back.

Looking down, I finally decided to answer the call.

"MORIA-SAMAAAA! MORIA-SAMAAAAAA! MORIA-SAMAAAAAAAA!"

"Stop shouting! Who is this, Kumashi?!"

"Hurry, hurry Perona is in trouble!" On the other end, Kumashi let loose a panicked tone I never could've imagined from his usual, gruff voice.

"Slow down, slow down! What's the situation!" I tried to get a handle on things, and figure out what was going on. At the same time, I looked around for John, Silver Knight, and Fu Manchu.

"It's bad! The mission you sent Perona on ended in success, we easily captured the two you sent us to retrieve! We even had a bonus, and found a third, unexpected target! However, we hit a snag, when this swordsman found out we work for you! He slaughtered the entire force surrounding Perona, and captured her as prisoner. I was only allowed to leave, because Perona begged the man to let me go. He agreed, but only if I would contact you…I've been calling you since yesterday! I got in touch with Absalom-sama, since you didn't pick up. He's sending a relief force! Please, please come here and rescue Perona! You more than anyone has to save her! I'll never forgive you if she dies, you hear me. You hear me, Gecko Moria!" Kumashi begged me over the den den mushi. The snail cried tears, and looked utterly pathetic.

"Okay! I'll be there soon! No one takes from me without paying the price!" A vicious expression emerged on my face. Being suppressed like I just did by Shanks hurt my pride, and had made me furious at my powerlessness. Whoever it is that's threatening my crew, oh hoh hoh, they'll pay alright.

"John! Fu Manchu! Silver Knight! Get over here! We're leaving!"

"Ahh what, but boss, I'm about to win this drinking contest!" Bottle in hand, John sat across a table from Lucky Roo. Hazy memories from last night told me that the two had been drinking since the party started.

"I win! Better luck next time John! HAAaaaaaaa!" Lucky Roo cheered himself before falling over to the side, passed out drunk.

Fed up with his insubordination, I directed all of my willpower at his shadow, and commanded him to fall in line. I felt a strong resistance, he really wanted to win this drinking contest. However, my will was stronger, fortifying my powers, John slowly stood up, and marched himself over to my position.

The other two quickly fell in line, even Fu Manchu was silent.

"We're flying towards the direction of this vivre card. A valued member of my crew has been kidnapped. This is a rescue mission boys, prepare for a slaughter." A grim line spread across my face. Whoever it was threatening me, they must've known about my Shichibukai status, and were challenging me regardless of the fact. Whoever this was, I was prepared to crush them. But if it turned out to be a trap set by a much stronger opponent, or one in which I was vastly outnumbered, would I be prepared to abandon Perona? I clenched my fists, frustrated at the unknown.

"Ja ja ja, lighten up boss, all I wanted to do was drink! Now I've lost all reputation as a man!" John raised his arms melodramatically into the air.

"Idiot! Can't you see him! His clenched fist! The deadeye expression. Can't you smell it?! The seething hatred, ready to boil out of the pot! You didn't see what happened earlier because you were too busy drinking, but his pride as a man is on the line! He is ready to go to war! Then it turns out, some fop has stolen his baby girl?! Now isn't the time for your childish games!" Fu Manchu thwacked the back of John's head.

"Hm" Silver Knight grunted in approval.

"Not you to Silver Knight!" John looked let and right in amazement.

"We set off now!" Forming a large enough surfboard to carry us, I ferried the trio at mach speeds towards our destination.

During the journey to Perona's rescue, I reflected upon what Shanks had said. I felt stifled, just when everything was looking up for me, just as I'd achieved nearly every goal I'd set out to achieve, I'd been pushed down. The entire conversation, if I could even call it that was Shanks laughing in my face and saying "What can you do? Want to fight about it?" It was infuriating, and now, with this upcoming fight, would I even be allowed to go all out. If I destroy the island, will Shanks come after me? A part of me wanted to do it out of spite, but my rational side reeled me back in. Destroying islands wantonly wasn't even my m.o. I am not the Gecko Moria that Shanks knew.

Besides, destroy to many islands, openly kill to many people, and I'll have the World Government breathing down my neck. I'll take that mans warning with a grain of salt. Don't wantonly kill civilians, especially Yasopp's home village, and Luffy's home village, and I should be fine. Some of these pirates, I swear, they're just as bad as the Marine's when it comes to Justice.

Like that, two hours had past, and we arrived at our destination. From the distance, I could see the island Perona's vivre card was pointing towards. It was an island of many hills, and green valley's. As I entered the islands perimeter, I flew low to the ground. The tug on the vivre card became even stronger the closer I got.

"You three, disembark here, these are your orders…"

"Ah what."

"This is dishonorable."

"…"

"Shut up, and just do it!" After dropping the three of them off, I now walked to my destination. Entering a large valley, there was endless green before me, not a single tree obscured my vision. Half an hour of walking later, I came to the middle of the valley.

There meditating on a mat was a middle aged man. He wore a light grey gi that had a symbol of crossed swords embroidered around his left chest area. His black hair was in a ponytail, and the serene smile on his face combined with the reading glasses gave him a disarming appearance. If it wasn't for the sword resting across his lap, it wouldn't be any stretch of the imagination to think the man was a harmless Uncle enjoying the morning air.

I glanced to the side, and a furious looking Perona squirmed about. She was tied firmly by some rope, and had her mouth gagged.

"Shimotsuki Kōshirō" The man stood, and bowed in my direction. With a wave of his hand, he drew his sword, and cut Perona's bonds, resheathing the sword in less than a second.

This casual act of his made me focus on him. That speed of his was unreal, comparable to the speed of my shadows, or Admiral Kizaru's light attacks.

"You're in trouble now you creep! Moria-sama, kick this guys ass! He's a big meanie, and slaughtered all the zombies I brought over! All the cuties of mine that I brought from the Garden! Gone!" Perona stood up from her bonds, and shouted loudly at both me and the swordsman.

"Perona, go back to the ship. This is a serious matter, one you cannot handle."

"But-"

"No. This is not the time to be willful. Leave. Now!"

At my command, Perona looked at Kōshirō, turned to me, smiled, and ran away with all her might. I was happy to see her run at a fast pace without tiring out. A small smile appeared on my lips, no way she would lose to someone of Usopp's caliber ever again.

"Ahem. Touching as that moment may be, it's polite before conversation to introduce oneself. This girl here was quite rude, her speech, so vulgar, it was an assault upon the ears. Whoever raised her is quite the barbarian. Unfit for parenting in every regard." The mild mannered, middle aged man spoke with a friendly voice, no matter how cutting his words were.

I was about to respond when the man continued talking.

"Oh, but that's not why we're here, now is it? I must apologize, that was very unsightly of me. You're Gecko Moria, owner of the Shizāsouru, are you not?"

The Shiza what now? A bewildered look came upon my face.

"Oh. Oh you poor soul. You didn't know? This makes this whole affair so much worse. This beautiful blade has been in your possession for more than two decades, and its history is lost to you. How my culture has fallen so low." A look of pity came upon Kōshirō's face. For him, or me, I couldn't quite tell.

"You wield one of the twenty one great swords, an Ō Wazamono. Shizāsouru, the scissor soul, was forged by Shimotsuki Kōzaburō a master swordsmith. Be humbled, it is your honor to wield this blade."

The geniality, the friendly approachableness, and his utter disregard for those who lack manners. This man, Kōshirō, his voice is oddly soothing. He reminds me an awful lot of a certain brown haired, glasses wearing Shinigami from the anime, Bleach.

"So what, you kidnapped my crewmate, so you could see my sword?" At this, I drew my blades, and held them at the ready. Using shadow reading, I could tell that this man wanted to confirm something. Was I, Gecko Moria, worthy to wield a great sword forged by his family?

I had prepared myself for battle all this time, for a moment like today. For almost two weeks now, I had been training in nothing but the sword. Using the combined skills of all the shadows at my disposal, I solidified some of the sword skills I began learning way back before the battle of Marineford. For the last five days, I had been training with Saga's skills. Today, I would test all I had learned.

"Oh yes! You understand. A man's actions speak when words are unnecessary." Kōshirō unsheathed his own sword, tossing his scabbard to the side.

"My name is Shimotsuki Kōshirō, please treat me well." Kōshirō bowed.

During his bow, I lunged forward, my left sword cleaved downward, while my right plunged forward in a thrust.

Kōshirō easily evaded my attacks, going for a slice of my side. Seeing I couldn't dodge the strike, I swapped places with Doppleman. His blade struck Doppleman, slicing him into thousands of pieces. My heart palpitated, it felt as if I had lost a part of me. In a panic, I tried to reform my shadow, all to no avail. I began to panic, did Kōshirō use haki to disrupt Doppleman?

Within a moment, he was upon me. I had no time to think, but my instincts began to kick in. Dodge to the left! Block down. Block left, right, down, up. Jump! My body began to move on auto pilot. The constant sparring with the zombie generals had keyed me up to combat.

Although less than a minute had passed, I still had some time to think. I noticed that slowly, ever so slowly, my shadow began to reform. I felt that if I had time to concentrate, I could probably piece it back together in about a minute, maybe a bit longer. However, at this rate, I'd be lucky if it reformed after five, or ten minutes! Maybe even more!

Spinning in the air, I came down with both swords. In a mighty clash of power, Kōshirō held his single blade aloft with one hand. He began to push me back! For the first time since a Yonko, someone has pushed me back in a power struggle! With a heave, I was tossed away. My body crashed into the soil, creating a long furrow similar to that of one created by a farmers plow. I didn't have a moment of respite; he was upon me before my momentum was stopped by the hillside.

What speed! My eyes widened in shock; I did my best to block the incoming strikes. During my many spars, I had learned how to turn and twist my bulk, even plowing into the soil like I was now, I could dodge several of his strikes, turning the ones that connected into shallow cuts.

Blood seeped out of my now many open wounds, and flew every which way during Kōshirō's pursuit. I used my momentum to cartwheel away, and gain some space.

Kōshirō was faster, and physically stronger than me. Not to mention, a technically better fighter, every move of his limited the amount of energy exerted to the bare minimum. When I used shadow reading on him, it was as if he was one with his surroundings. Every strike I threw his way, it was as if it was predicted a minute in advance. I may as well be a snail in comparison to him. Nothing but a nuisance.

To hell with fighting as just a swordsman. I thought it would be good practice, but turns out, next to a bonafide sword master, my skills are worth piss. I began to strike at Kōshirō with my shadow attacks.

I began to hop backwards, creating more space between the two of us. I had no Doppleman to switch places with, and in this wide open field, there were precious few shadows for me to hop to. I decided to hold off on entering my shadow armour state, and created a surfboard shaped shadow. Jumping on, I sailed away, while firing javelins, and other shaped attacks at Kōshirō.

Adjusting his course, and without a pause in his stride at seeing my abilities, Kōshirō rushed towards me at unimaginable speeds. I did all I could to keep him from me. A hail of javelins spread from my position, backed up by a pack of birds, wolves, and all sorts of animals. Even a few spinning buzzsaws reminiscent of the destructo disc were thrown in. Kōshirō easily dodged, or sliced every attack to smithereens.

I stopped running, and stood still to concentrate. I formed thousands of shadow javelins, with a thought, I sent the storm his way. I generated wave after wave of attack, but they were all rebuffed. This wasn't going to work, I might have to chance Shanks' wrath, and utilize one of my ultimate techniques! I began to generate a mass of shadows above us, all the while, continuing with my attacks against Kōshirō. Soon, the sky was blotted out by a blob. Very few traces of light broke through the screen I had set up.

Kōshirō walked steadily in my direction, energy attacks began to emerge from his blade, and pierce towards my position. Was this ki?

When the energy attack reached me, I held out my blades. Impel Down prisoners, don't let me down now!

"Hn!" With a grunt, I met the energy attacks head on. In my attempt to coat my blades in defensive haki, I could feel an energy briefly coat both blades. Success! Over the course of the next minute, I maintained my defense, and directed the energy from the ki strikes to my sides. At the same time however, Kōshirō also successfully defeated my deluge of shadow javelins, and was almost upon me. Glancing into the sky, the amount of shadow I had generated wasn't as much as I had used to destroy Rock Fire Island, but it would have to do.

Through shadow reading, I could tell Kōshirō had something he wanted to say. I could also tell he was beyond furious, and barely winded. Covered in light wounds, I wasn't at my peak, but I wasn't that bad off either. If anything, my mental concentration was pushed to the limit, any delay in fighting was a welcomed one. Kōshirō stood a few meters away from me, I had stopped sending attacks his way to relax my mind. A frown marred his usually friendly looking face.

"You are a disgrace upon my family name. I was hoping a man with your reputation would be worthy of Shizāsouru. You do not deserve this blade. At first, I hoped to be honored by a fellow swordsman. If this would not come to pass, at the very least, I could take the blade, and bestow it to one more worthy. My honor, would no longer be besmirched. However, not only have you misused Shizāsouru, you, Gecko Moria, have so shallowly copied my family sword style, your act of disrespect not only harms my face, but that of the entire Shimotsuki clan. And that. That I cannot forgive. My name is Shimotsuki Kōshirō, may you find peace with the Shinigami." Kōshirō bowed once more, and strode forward.

I decided then, that since I was facing someone as strong as Kōshirō, I was going to kite backwards, and wear him out. Hopefully, I can launch a large attack, or catch him off guard.

Right when I was going to move upward into the sky, Kōshirō moved and sliced my surfboard in twain. I jumped from the crumbling platform, and formed shadow wings upon my back, intent on escaping into the sky. At the same time, creatures, big and small began to fall from the blob of shadow in the sky. A dragon made of shadow, the size of several busses roared, as it charged at Kōshirō.

The dragon was one of many creatures and shapes. Drills, buzzsaws, and javelins spun at crazy speeds as they descended towards the swordsman. Some attacks tore through the ground, to attack him from below, many that he dodged still had energy as long as I directed them, and turned around to attack him.

This still wasn't enough! Koshiro dodged at the perfect time, every time. The way he moved was perfect, many of my own attacks canceled each other out. A swarm of javelins collided with the dragon, dispersing it completely.

I could read from his shadow, the complete and utter contempt he had for me.

"Kōshirō! You expected, nay, hoped for a fight with a world class sword master! The Shimotsuki sword style you hold in such high praise is barely worth learning! One of my weakling crewmates, Saga taught it to me! Perhaps after this, I'll kill him for teaching me such a worthless sword style!" I tried to rile him up, and try to get any advantage I could.

"Now I know where that rude girl learned such foul speech. Barbarism has no place in cultured society." Kōshirō's glasses reflected brightly with the scattered sun, and I couldn't see his expression much with the limited light. However, with my abilities, I could tell one thing. The man was absolutely livid! I began to grin. Mission success!

A moment later, more than five hundred energy crescents blasted towards the mass of shadow I had floating in the sky. Each crescent was similar in size to the ones Mihawk had used to cut Aokiji's ice at the battle of Marineford.

"Oh shit!" I barely had time to dodge the strikes, before the shockwaves sent me tumbling to the ground. I flipped end over end, and slammed face first into the ground, creating a large crater in the already torn apart landscape.

Blood began to pop from my nose, mouth, and ears at the crazy amounts of pressure imbalances created by his attack.

Kneeling, and then standing up with great effort, I spit blood from my mouth to the side. I absorbed another shadow, healing my physical wounds. My use of haki from earlier, and the generation of such a large amount of shadows was beginning to take its toll on me. It was at this point, that I very seriously considered fleeing to fight another day. No one is born undefeatable. A loss, so soon after the humiliation from Shanks smarts something fierce. However, I did get Perona back, so it's not all bad.

"Prepare yourself." Was all I heard, before a flash of steel descended upon me.

"Damn…I distracted myself again." Was all I got out, before I fell onto my back. It felt like I had been cut down to the waist. Kōshirō moved to my fallen body, tossing my swords away.

"Now!" I distantly heard a shout. Turning my head to the side, I saw a hand emerge from the ground. Silver Knight's arm gripped Kōshirō's leg in a vice-grip. At the same time, both Fu Manchu, and John charged at him. Without any hesitation, Kōshirō cut his left leg off at the knee to avoid the incoming strikes.

My vision began to get dimmer and dimmer, a circle of darkness spread across my eyes, with every heartbeat, the circle of darkness beat like a drum. It slowly began to close, my vision cut off from nearly all light. All I could hear was my heart, beating furiously, and the faint clash of metal. Loud thumps, and explosions, sounded distant. Vibrations shook my body, and I was caked in a layer of dust. I tried my best to command my body to do something, anything, but it was unresponsive. I tried to command the shadows in my pocket to enter my body, to heal me. But nothing was happening! I began to panic, was this the end?!

Soon, all feeling began to leave my arms, not even the wetness or heat of my own blood could be felt. Am I dying? Resigned to my fate, I tried to rationalize my upcoming death. Maybe this is for the best, why fear death. How I became Gecko Moria is a mystery to me, it's unexplainable. Hopefully it's reincarnation, that sounds nice.

When I had this thought, my minds image was initially of my smiling parents from my past life. Peace is good. I smiled content, at peace with my death.

"I HaaaaaaVEEEEee something FooORRr yOUuuuAh" A crooked, and crusty voice sounded throughout my entire being. The voice reminded me of an old man, hoarse, and done with life, yet perverted, like the dirtiest pedophile seeking the flesh of the youngest boy. At the end of a narrow tunnel, a hunch backed creature crouched low to the ground. It's outline was grainy in the low light tunnel, I couldn't make out any distinguishing characteristics. All except one, its eyes were perfectly empty circles that seemed to go on forever.

I blinked my eyes, and turned away in fear.

"mOrIa. I'lL sEe YoU soOOOOooooOOONnnAh"

Is this what's waiting for me in the afterlife?! I WANT TO LIVE!

"aWAkehna UP! gET UPAh!"

NO, this won't be my fate! I CANNOT ALLOW THIS! With every fiber of my being, I resisted my death. Any peace of mind I had established last time was taken to the incinerator. I urged every iota of my being into living on.

"Hah hah hah" With a gasp, I came to. Light streamed into my vision, and the acrid smell of smoke filled the air. I breathed in and out rapidly, as my vision began to clear, the first thing I noticed was my size. I felt like I'd quadrupled in both weight and size. A monstrously large scar ran from my right shoulder down to my waist. I was so spent; my exhaustion was at its peak. At this point, all I wanted to do was sleep. But I had to know what happened. After taking my body into account, I began to look around. I saw a valley that was completely unrecognizable from an hour ago.

There wasn't a single spot of grass that hadn't been left unmarred from battle. Scorched earth was the least surprising thing about my surroundings. Not only that, hundreds of decayed limbs lay about the ground. Next to me was the motionless corpse of a giant animal zombie. One of my animal variant general zombies had been slain?

I gingerly raised myself from the ground, sitting down, I could see far and wide. These must have been the reinforcements Absalom sent for the rescue operation of Perona. I never realized he cared enough about her to send this many zombies! This is more than 2,000 zombies, the majority of our forces! Sadly for me, it was a killing field! Nothing but motionless corpses dotted the land as far as the eye could see. In the distance, a bloodied and legless Kōshirō battled with a nearly destroyed Silver Knight. Fu Manchu, and John were nowhere to be seen.

Upon my observation, Kōshirō looked over, and his expression turned into one of shock, and fury.

"You! You're still alive! How dare you!" Kōshirō began to furiously battle Silver Knight. I could tell that Silver Knight could last only a few more moves, then Kōshirō would come for me. In my current state, I wasn't overly confident in defeating him. Even in his fatigued and injured state, the man had me spooked. His skill with the sword, his martial prowess, it was terrifying.

However, now that he's distracted, this would be the perfect time to snatch his shadow! I looked around for my blade, but I couldn't find it! I'd never taken someone's shadow before without the help of my sword, the Shizāsouru! Can I take his shadow without the help of that blade? Only one way to find out!

Slowly, Kōshirō's shadow made it's way over to me.

"I know about your devil fruit Gecko Moria. It won't work on me!" Composure broken, Kōshirō turned towards me in a blitz.

"No!" Only a few more seconds, and his shadow would be within my grasp!

I saw the shadow of Kōshirō's blade descend, I closed my eyes, and prepared myself for a dance with the devil.

*CLANG* A large sound of metal clashing on metal screeched to the heavens.

Opening my eyes, Silver Knight had interposed himself between me and Kōshirō. The armour holding him together had been cut, slashed, and nicked in so many places during his fight with Kōshirō. Damaged as it was, Silver Knight's armament haki was so impressive, Kōshirō's sword only cut down from the crest of Silver Knight's helmet, to the base of his neck. With a thumbs up, Silver Knight fell to the ground. The shadow animating his body dissipated into the horizon.

"An admirable attempt, but ultimately futile. You need Shizāsouru to remove my shadow. Without my family, your career as a pirate never would've began. You can view this as nothing more than a transaction. I'll be collecting upon years of rental fees. The price will be your life." Kōshirō wound up his arm to swing.

A loud tearing noise took place right when Kōshirō was about to bring his sword down.

Struggling in my hand was a little more then half of Kōshirō's shadow. I immediately absorbed the shadow. Looking on with glee, I saw Kōshirō's face lose all color. His sword clattered to the ground, as he got on his hands and knees. He wretched and barfed his breakfast all over the floor. Wiping his mouth, he shakily stood on his good leg, and wobbly moved to pick up his sword.

Why isn't he disappearing? The sky is bright with sunlight. Sun? Hello, sun!? SUN?!

"Let's do this, one last time. My name is Shimotsuki Kōshirō, prepare to die." He slowly walked towards me, I tried to summon Doppleman, but he was unresponsive for some reason. With my exhaustion, all I could do was summon a single blade of shadow. This is my last hope! It rushed towards Kōshirō, it was large enough to cut him in two. Just like always in this fight, he dodged at the most optimal moment.

With a genial smile, my killer brought his sword down.

*Shink*

With a genial smile, my would be killer smiled as blood dribbled to his mouth. A sword poked out of his chest where his heart is. Kōshirō took a step forward, raised his blade one last time, then fell to the ground, dead.

Looking left and right in befuddlement, who saved me, one of the zombies?

"I'm right here Captain." Appearing out of thin air, a serious looking Absalom held a bloodied blade. His clear-clear fruit had given him the perfect opportunity to save me.

Shimotsuki Kōshirō I would have loved to have had your shadow. As a learning tool, and placed within a zombie. Sadly, it was not to be.

"…It was a close one this time Absalom. You're my most reliable sailor. No one works harder to revive the crew than you. The Thriller Bark Island wouldn't run without you. I'm just a waste of space, always making trouble for you huh? Creating more and more work. Ha ha ha. Maybe we should just retire to the Florian Triangle, and relive our peaceful days." I gave myself a self-deprecating laugh. My nearest bout with death had shaken my resolve.

*Tcha* A loud slap rang out.

"With all due respect Captain, that's not true! You're not making trouble for me! After this fight, you can't go back to the same lazy ways! What was with that promise you made to me?! The promise you made to our crew? You said that the world was going to change. That we had to be prepared for it, or we'd be swallowed whole! You have the fire, don't lose it because of a set-back like this! So you lost many of the zombies, rebuild! You still have Hogback, you have Perona, you have those new recruits! You can still make it!"

"And I have you. Thank you Absalom, for sticking with a headstrong, idiot of a Captain. Thank you for setting my head straight, no man is an island unto himself."

"Glad you see it my way Captain."

"Good, we're on the same page. Now, clean up this mess." With a pat on Absalom's back, I fell to the ground, and went to sleep, utterly exhausted from the fight.

Meanwhile, in a land faraway

Within a dark, smoke filled room, gangsters, killers, and all sorts of people from the underworld congregated. Poker chips, bets, and other unique wagers had been placed on a board. Written in chalk, such bets as "less than 500 zombies is a two to one pay out." or "Defeat the knight in less than 100 strikes, 5 beri entry" "Moria begs for death, 500 beri." "Kōshirō lets him go, 10,000." were common. Inside the room where once there was gambling, and wild cheer, now, not a soul made a noise.

A young buxom, blue haired woman sat curled into a ball teary eyed, her cat eyes, and lightly freckled face were enough to entice any man. She rocked back and forth as she bit her thumbnail. On the screen in front of her projected by the den den mushi, the corpse of Shimotsuki Kōshirō lay on the ground, only a few steps away from the Shichibukai, Gecko Moria.

Someone went to erase the bets from the chalk board, breaking the silence of the room. The dealer rubbed the washcloth across the board only once before every eye was upon him. The dealer stopped his action, as soon as he noticed everyone's attention. However, it was too late. As the water spilt down the chalk, some of the words got jumbled, and it appeared like a new message had been spelt out.

MORIA KILLS KŌSHIRŌ

The table everyone sat at instantly shattered. Cups, saucers, and glasses flew into the air, shattering. Nearly everyone within the establishment fell to the ground, slumped and unconscious.

"Ozai, give the order to the Crazy 88's, I want that man dead. Post a bounty of 750 million beri's. Don't bother me over the next week, I'll be telling my Uncle's about this. And tell that idiot Kyoshiro not to get in my way!"

"Yes boss." Ozai bowed.

Cowering in the corner near the chalkboard, the dealer had no clue what was going on. Why did everyone drop to the ground unconscious! Ah, maybe the boss would know.

"H-hey boss, what happened to everyone."

Walking up to him, the boss straddled his crotch. At first it was nice…is the boss coming on to me? But as soon as the pleasure came, the pain began.

"Ohh, we're going to have fun today." She cooed in his ear.

"Boss? Boss, that hurts! Why hy hy!"

With one last bow, Ozai closed the sliding door to the dank, smoke filled room. Leaving behind the sounds of screaming and pleading, he bowed one last time for the fallen.

AN: If you wanna see the guy Moria fought, google "One Piece Zoro Teacher."

Thanks for the reviews, they actually do impact the story. A part of the Shanks interaction, and Doppleman being attacked by haki was a direct result of viewer feedback!

Interesting? side note, the darkening vision of Moria is me describing the time I almost died irl. I didn't see anything like what Moria did, that's part of the plot. No ROBs, I swear, I hate those things as a plot device.

Maybe I'll do an interlude next chapter or soonish, write a pov for Saga, Perona, Kenji, and a few words about the new recruits.

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In the Shadows by Some Guy In An Ambulance

 Anime » One Piece Rated: M, English, Adventure & Crime, Absalom, G. Moria, Shichibukai, Words: 137k+, Favs: 788, Follows: 955, Published: May 10, 2019 Updated: Oct 30387Chapter 29

"Ahh." I sighed in contentment. Back at my room, the rays of sunshine spilling through the window warmed my bones. The sunshine was a welcome break from the previous week's monsoon like rain. Juxtaposing the heat from the sun, a cool refreshing breeze entered the room, and whisked my hair a bit.

*Crunch* Taking a bite out of my apple, I wiped the juices from my chin. Making a face, I tossed the sour thing away.

The fleeting moment of peace was soon broken when I thought about yesterdays victory. A third of my forces had been completely lost. The shadows disappeared; the zombie bodies shredded beyond all repair. A further third were heavily damaged, loss of limb, and puncture marks were the norm. The silver lining I suppose is that they kept their shadows, and could be repaired by Hogback. By far however, the worst news was my loss of Silver Knight. He, along with John, and Fu Manchu are my only zombies that could effectively utilize haki. This was a major loss to my forces. On top of that, a further third of my zombie generals were lost. Fortunately, Fu Manchu and John survived, not to mention, one third of my forces had been left on Thriller Bark to hold down the fort…but if Absalom hadn't brought the reinforcements, that would've been it for me.

It boggled my mind that Kōshirō was so powerful. I don't think I landed a single hit on him, during our entire engagement! His observation haki was in a tier of its own. Not only that, but his skill in martial arts, they were incredible! He could slice, and cleave my shadows perfectly, no movement was wasted. He had such an economy of movement, I can only hope to match him in the future. In my honest opinion, my heart of hearts, I only won because of a couple lucky shots. At the end of the day, I think Absalom's devil fruit played a key role in my victory. Never mind the lack of stamina, or half of his shadow missing, that swordsman didn't account for Absalom at the last moment, and paid the price for it.

Even at the end of his rope, Kōshirō was still a dangerous, dangerous man. Forget Silver Knight, forget the more than two thousand zombies lost, if I had Kōshirō's shadow, I could've become unstoppable. With his skills, and my devil fruit, I could probably challenge Marco, or Katakuri, given enough time, maybe even a Yonko. The man was a beast, what he accomplished, will serve as inspiration to train only harder. There's similar monsters like him, out there in the world. The next time I met one, I needed to be prepared.

"Haaa." I sighed, closing my eyes, and clenching my fists at what could've been. Oh well, no use focusing on the past, it's time to look to the future. Look at the positives, I have a brand new, powerful corpse to add to the arsenal, and I made slight improvements at haki manifestation. I even made new discoveries about my devil fruit. For one, Doppleman can be disrupted by haki, I need to see for myself how long it would take to reform him. Especially under combat conditions. This is a must for when I fight those top tier opponents.

With my thoughts on Doppleman, perhaps I'll even be able to coat my own shadow in a layer of armament haki, much like how Doflamingo coats his strings. I don't know if I'll be able to do this to the shadows I create, but when it comes to my own shadow, this should be doable.

Additionally, I ripped half of Kōshirō's shadow from him, and absorbed it. Somehow, he didn't disintegrate, and when I absorbed his shadow, I felt like I only gained a marginal strength gain. There was no transfer of skills whatsoever, no haki, or sword swinging ability. If this is the case…I rubbed my chin. This merits further study, can I still make zombies with this function? How about healing?

Could I possibly have my cake, and eat it too? Take some of the shadow from an average civilian, place it in a zombie, and get that zombie to work in a factory, or train in fire arms. This way, I can have happy civilians, and won't have to resort to breaking the biggest law on the planet. Although when it comes to certain people, like combatants, or skilled workers such as carpenters, doctors, or engineers, I may need to have their complete shadow to have their skills. Why higher a engineer who you have to pay, when you could have a loyal, endlessly working zombie engineer?

"Ki shi shi shi!" I snapped open my eyes, and let loose a wild laugh. Who cares about all this plotting? The important thing for now was that I, Gecko Moria, was alive! This fight the other day may be what's called a pyrrhic victory, but it wasn't without gains!

At the end of my laugh, four kneeling, and bound figures began shivering uncontrollably, bringing my attention to them.

Noticing my attention placed upon the four figures, Blue stepped forward to present them to the room.

"Presenting to the illustrious, and all knowing Captain Gecko Moria, Warlord of the seas, Royal Shichibukai, Prime Minister of Goa Kingdom, Savior of the Impoverished, and shining jewel of East Blue, Perona-sama's spoils of war! First up, is the warrior whose name is feared throughout the West Blue, Clamps! His vice like grip is strong enough to crush rocks! A relative unknown, he comes in with a bounty of 6,500,000 beri! Just look at the forearms on the guy, he not only can crush them, but his best known feat is throwing a rock, sinking a ship!

Next up, the honorable mercenary who is purported to do anything for money, coming in at an 8,000,000 beri bounty, Golass! In the beautiful and dashing Perona-sama's capture, Golass proved himself capable of slaying eight hulked up zombies trained by Sergeant himself! His might couldn't save him however, it was no cure for depression! Golass' sword skills pale when compared to our genius swordsman Saga, but he's a darkhouse worth watching out for!

Our third man of the hour, the one who's obsessed with gold above all else, his voice is to die for. The wielder of the scream-scream fruit, coming in with a bounty of 10,000,000 beri, the pirate, El Drago! His hair may be a similar shade to Moria-sama's, but don't let that fool you! El Drago's anything but brave, he has a deathly fear of mice!

Last, and most shockingly, our mistress of fear, our banshee of terror, recognized a third, surprise target! In the same pub, drinking next to El Drago, and Golass was none other than the second smartest man of East Blue, his bounty weighed in at a hefty 16,000,000 beri. For your viewing pleasure, Kuro of A Thousand Plans!" After each introduction, Blue would make goofy gestures with his arms reminiscent of a clown.

"I can't wait to modify their bodies! Fos fos fos fos! Crocodile skin, lions liver, elephants tusks, there are so many possibilities. Young men, come see me after Moria-sama is done with you!" Hogback slipped on new gloves, and pulled up his surgical mask.

"Yes! You see Kumashi, I did it!" Perona fist pumped, and gripped Kumashi in a joyous hug.

"Why am I even here?" A pouting Kenji was included in Perona's bone crunching embrace.

"Hmph." Absalom crossed his arms in an act to look tough, but a small smile peaked its way through the gruff exterior.

"That's right worm, I am the strongest swordsman on this crew!" A triumphant smirk was plastered over Saga's face as he nodded at Blue.

"Ha ha ha." A deep, genuine laugh escaped my throat at the sight of it all. It wasn't often I got to see the whole crew together like this. Although my three generals…my two generals were missing, preparing to be stitched back together by Hogback. A bitter smile appeared on my face. Silver Knight may only have been a corpse dancing to the tune of the master, but his sacrifice had allowed me to live. For that, I'll always be thankful.

"What are you going to do to us?" A terrified Golass turned his head up to look me in the eye. His green cap, and feathered headdress were torn up. He was the most stereotypical Native American looking guy I'd ever seen. He actually reminded me a lot of the Shandian people who lived in the sky islands. Only difference was this guy had no wings. Bound, the only thing missing from his get-up was his weapon of choice, a massive sword.

Beside him, an angry faced El Drago, made furious noises. But all I could hear through his gag was "Mmmnn, mmmm!"

"Ahem. What I do believe my…fellows are trying to annunciate is this: how may we be of service sir?" Kuro pushed up his glasses, asked me with a pleasant face, however, when he referred to the other two, he did so with a strong derision. He reminded me of a perfect upper class servant, the years spent as a butler hadn't gone to waste I see.

Kuro's gentlemanly attitude, and friendly face plus glasses combo was giving me flashbacks to the other day. Perhaps this one deserves additional monitoring.

A brief look at his Shadow, and I could tell Kuro was thinking about how best to stab Blue in the back and get away from here ASAP. It was a vague feeling since my shadow reading skill wasn't all knowing, and could mostly get emotions, but the man was furious at being called the second smartest person from East Blue. For someone so smart, he sure does seem to let his emotions control him, haha!

"Well said Kuro, as you've no doubt surmised, you four have been shanghaied. I would expect no less from one with an intellect such as yours to have figured it out." I placed my fingertips together, forming a pyramid and smiled at them.

"Firstly, Clamps, not much is known about you, tell me about yourself. Convince me you're Thriller Bark material."

"Uhh, I can crush rocks?" Clamps gave an enquiring look my way.

My face was not amused.

"Uhhh. I can crush REALLY BIG ROCKS!" Clamps smiled like he'd discovered the secret to the universe.

Katcha Katcha Katcha

Three bullet holes tore clean through Clamps' body causing him to fall to the ground motionless. With a care free smile, I holstered the still smoking gun. Without giving the remaining three a chance to recover from the shocking scene, I continued my recruitment pitch.

"You in the headdress, you're Golass no? My sources say that you're hell bent on collecting money. That you're a ruthless mercenary who's slaughtered countless innocents. However, while wallowing in misery on Kuraigana Island after your defeat to the Straw Hat Pirates, you've been observed helping the poor on many an occasion."

"I can explain, Moria-sama, I, I'm bad to the bone! I'll kill anyone you tell me too! I had to pay for our drinks somehow, you see.." Golass tried to convince me he was made

"Furthermore, once you give your word, you never go back on it, even when it means following stupid orders." At this, I glanced at El Drago.

"A drive to reduce excessive damages, strength, and a good work ethic. Consider yourself hired. You'll find in time that working for me is better than any other option on the market. Employee health and salary is all part of the package. Achieve enough merits, and I may even personally help resolve a grudge or two, or whatever it is you need so much money saved for." I grinned, and patted a relieved Golass on the shoulder.

"As for you El Drago, lazy, and obsessed with gold, you're next to worthless. Ruthless, and energetic when your gold is on the line, but at all other times, listless, and unwilling to get your hands dirty. You must be strong to carry around an armor made entirely of gold, but my sources tell me you barely know how to use the scream-scream fruit. Why should I bother with you?" I lazily reached for another apple, and took a chomp while looking him in the eye. He was a tall dark skinned man, but his height was nothing next to mine. If anything, his body shape and face reminded me of a shrunk down Oars Jr.

"Mnn! MNNN!" El Drago struggled left and right, looking around wildly. It seemed as if his eyeballs were about to pop out of his head in desperation.

As an extension of my will, Doppleman moved behind El Drago, and removed the gag.

"Pwah! I can scream! I can scream just fine! In fact, not only that, I'm stronger than Golass! If anything, you should take me, and not him! I'm ten times more ruthless! I shot one of my old crew in the stomach, and left him to die, because he slowed us down! Pick me!" El Drago spewed out a word salad, speaking at lightspeed to plead his case.

"Hmm." I scratched my chin, and slowly raised my gun, pointing it at him.

El Drago began to cry, the eyeliner around his eyes began to spool down his chin, and drip onto the floor.

"Pathetic. I suppose I'll take pity on you. This one time." I once again pocketed my pistol.

"Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you! I'll never forget this for as long as I live Gecko! Now, uhh, how's about that pay? I mean, I am stronger than Golass after all." A greedy, thirsty look took ahold of El Drago's face.

Katcha

"YEAAA!" El Drago let loose with a yelp that sounded eerily similar to Tom, from Tom & Jerry.

"You'll find the pay to be quite good, Drago starting out, I'll have ten kilograms of gold delivered to your room."

Forgetting the pain in his foot, El Drago looked at me in amazement.

"That will be your salary for the next decade. From you, I want ten million beri's in loot every year as tribute. As a rule, you're not allowed to keep any money stored anywhere else, except in your room. Violation of this, and well." At the end, I held up the gun, and smiled in his direction.

"Moria-samaaa!" The crying El Drago smashed his forehead into my floor.

"Ki shi shi shi, how about you Kuro? Convince me. Why should I keep the man who spent three years meticulously planning to subvert a little crippled girls inheritance, only to have it foiled by some stupid villagers? Convince me how the man famous throughout East Blue, the man who successfully faked his own death is worthy of joining my crew?" I leaned forward to look him especially close in the eye. My tall figure loomed above him, even when I sat.

"Gladly Moria-sama. You see, those were no ordinary villagers. After my defeat, it was, much to my shock, and dare I say shame to learn about the identity of my attackers. For you see, they were no ordinary villagers who foiled my plan. It was Usopp, warrior of the sea, and son of the famed sniper, Yassop. Additionally, the prime antagonist of this sad tale of mine was one Luffy D. Monkey. The man famous in the papers for his attack on Enies Lobby and Impel Down. My plans take into account hundreds, nay, thousands of variables. However…However! This was inconceivable! I had prepared, oh how I had prepared how to take care of Usopp. I was meticulous in my set-up, even if the boy suspected me, the entire village was on my side!

However, it all ended tragically when an unseen variable entered the picture. The son of the revolutionary, the grandson of the Marine, who was I but a lowly pirate from East Blue? Who was I, but a man with his wits against a muslebound, brain dead barbarian. I am a tactician my dear Captain. My head is for numbers, strategies, and logistics! Even so, even so, my attacks had dealt damage to the boy! Not only the blades, but the blunt side, I have invented a movement technique you see, even a brand new way of striking those with devil fruits! I call it, the Nuki Ashi! Take me in as your loyal sailor, and these skills are yours." Kuro ended his statement with a nod, and likewise kowtowed, although not as furiously as El Drago had.

I scratched the back of my head, unsure what I was supposed to make of this performance. The man was slick, I'd give him that. So many half truths and misdirection in his little speech, I'm a little astonished. Although knowing a little bit of his character, this wasn't to surprising. This act of fake humility though, ha ha ha!

"Welcome Kuro! You'll find working for the Thriller Bark Pirates to be much different from your past escapades. This time, you'll truly have an outlet for that big brain of yours! The crew you used to be a part of, they're small time, always trying to run away from the Marine's. When you sail with me, I represent the World Government, I am the law! Within the last two weeks alone, I conquered the Goa Kingdom. Under my banner, we'll do great things together." I smiled, and cut away each of their bonds.

"Rise. Rise! Each and every one of you is a part of my Thriller Bark Family! I am a fair employer, and don't expect to much from each of you. While pirating under my name, you may keep 20% of all the booty. Indulging in murder, rape, drugs, etc is your personal decision, so long as it isn't tracked to me, and doesn't harm my reputation I don't care. Freedom is a part of the pirate way of life after all! That being said, in your journey's, keep civilian death to a minimum, and don't interact with the Marine's to the best of your ability. Failure to do so will have consequences. I don't need or want to draw the attention of those existences high above. Prove yourself worthy, and maybe I'll risk my skin if you anger those existences. Otherwise, you should all know the game by now. Don't be surprised when your ass is hung out to dry!

Lastly, I want to make one final thing crystal clear. Something you should keep in mind at all times. Don't you ever, and I mean ever think about destroying my ships, islands, and properties. This behavior is unacceptable. Got that?"

I received stiff nods in reply from the three of them.

"Excellent! Good! Wonderful! Blue, see to it that they have rooms in the mansion." I clapped my hands, addressing the munchkin.

"Oh, and one more thing before you gentleman leave. You're each on a probationary period, you know with the whole me forcibly employing you and all. For now, you Golass, you're under the command of the shorty over there with the brown hair, and band-aid across his nose."

"I'm Kenji, nice to meet you." Kenji gave a short bow Golass' way.

"Golass." He answered nervously, and smiled.

"El Drago, for the time being, you're Saga's subordinate. And no, you can't kill him Saga, if you do, there's going to be punishment."

"Tch, don't get in my way trash." Saga sized El Drago up from top to bottom, and was less than impressed.

"Hmph, silver is a lesser color." El Drago marginalized Saga's hair.

"Moving on, Kuro, you're to be Absalom's assistant for now. This is a key role, critical to this crew's operation. Absalom is my chief steward, and financial officer. Listen, and answer to his commands as if they came from my mouth."

"I'm Kuro, but you can call me Klahadore if it makes you comfortable." Kuro bowed at ninety degrees, shook hands with Absalom with a two handed grip, and followed Blue out the door.

"Uh yeah, sure." Absalom hesitantly shook hands with Kuro, unaccustomed to the finesse often found in noble's courts.

After they left, I glanced at the corpse of Clamps. Taking another bite of my apple, I chose to address him.

"Alright Clamps, enough acting, get out of here." I nudged him with my toe.

"Uhh, did I do it right boss?" Clamps looked up at me from the ground.

"You did great kid, now go on, get! Zombies like you should be practicing in the fields or something. Go see if there's any work for you to do around the island."

After the zombie got up and running out of the door, I saw a myriad of facial expressions greet me.

"What? Is something on my face?" I wiped a napkin all around, maybe some of that damned apple juice was dripping again…

"Ha! Idiots! Didn't they realize Clamps was a zombie this whole time, that their recruitment was one big show!" Saga exclaimed loudly and with great certainty. To say he looked down on them would be an understatement.

"Pffftt heh heh heh." Kenji covered his mouth, trying not to laugh at Saga.

"Something you wanna say kid?" Saga leaned in and glared at Kenji.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Kenji waved his hands back and forth in front of his face still trying not to smile.

Saga's eyebrow began to twitch when he saw Kenji's mouth curl between a blank face and a smile.

"Obviously Kenji means to say that you didn't know that Clamps guy was a zombie either. Who's the idiot now? Horo horo horo!" Perona gave Kenji a big thumbs up with one hand, and covered her mouth with the other.

At this point, Saga had his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment.

"Children please." At my short sentence, the three of them had stopped squabbling. Wow, I can't believe it worked! Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. Next thing I know, they'll be completing my objectives and orders without telling them anything! No, that'd be to scary. Such flights of fancy could never happen.

"Ahh, ahem. Good work on your capture Perona, you may have been kidnapped, but against someone as powerful as Shimotsuki Kōshirō I can't find fault with you. I was forced to kill him, and couldn't obtain his shadow, so although I want to reward you, it might have to be reduced. Since we have to find a suitable reward for you, how would you like a –"

"WAIT A MINUTE! You killed Sensei?!" Saga interrupted me.

"Watch your mouth new guy. You may be important to Captain, but I won't see any disrespect!" Absalom pulled a gun and pointed it at the back of Saga's head point blank.

Saga didn't even seem to register the threat as he stared at me with great intensity.

"Why, do you plan to take revenge?" I calmly asked as I took another bite from my apple.

"You, you killed Sensei. Ha ha, Sensei is dead!" Saga sank to his knees, when his hair shadowed his eyes, tears began to fall onto the floor.

Kenji moved behind him to pat him on the back. For a moment, even Absalom took pity on him, and slightly lowered his gun. On the sidelines, Perona put her hand into her mouth, and nibbled on it, seemingly in shock.

"He was like a father to me, raised me, taught me everything I know, I…I wanted to be the one to kill Sensei!" Shrugging off Kenji's hand, Saga drew his sword in one swift motion.

Absalom raised his gun again, readying to fire at a moments notice.

Unperturbed, I continued sitting in my comfortable bean bag chair, curious to see how this would play out. Since the beginning of this conversation, I had been reading his shadow. I had intentionally mentioned Kōshirō's death to test Saga. Sooner or later, he would find out, it's better I dealt with this now, rather than some time down the line. Would I gain a new shadow to add to my collection today I wonder?

With a clang, Saga placed his sword onto the ground, and kneeled on one knee, much like a medieval knight would when they were sworn to knighthood. Like this, Saga held that position for another five minutes. As each second went by, his sword would glow a brighter effervescent green glow. His eyes were closed, and his breathing slowed. The eyelids moved rapidly back and forth, as if he was in REM sleep, and his lips at a rapid pace.

Within the room, we were silent as the grave. Awaiting Saga to make a move.

With a strong inhale, and then soft exhale, the light on Saga's sword began to dim. With a flick, the blade had been sheathed.

"Since you claim to have killed Sensei, I hope you're prepared for the consequences. His family is on a whole other level. Especially, her." Saga stood up, panting, he had a look of exhaustion on his face, as if he had just single handedly held back a hoard of demons from entering the gates of heaven.

"The Shimotsuki? I don't know much about them, but aren't they a family deposed by Kaido in Wano?" I tried my best to think about this clan, but my brain was drawing up blanks.

"No, that's not it." Saga shook his head.

"…Roronoa Zoro? I understand he has great potential, should I kill him before he can grow into it?" I mused, seriously considering doing the deed. At this point, the man would likely seek revenge if he ever found out.

"No! Ahem, no, it's not Zoro, Sensei wanted him to take over his sword art and dojo, not…not his other work. I speak not strictly about the family of the blood, but the one forged through brotherhood." Saga was quick to deny Zoro, and shift the blame.

"Stop being obtuse Saga, this isn't like you at all. If not Zoro, then who?" Fed up with Saga's beating around the bush, I got to the heart of the matter.

"The Wu Tang Clan." Saga solemnly announced.

With a clatter, the gun in Absalom's hands fall to the ground.

"Absalom?"

Absalom looked more shook than at any time I'd ever seen him. My announcement of forming the crew back together, my participation at Marineford, taking over a kingdom, negotiating with the Germa 66, none of these things phased him. This must be serious for him to take this kind of reaction.

"What's the Wu Tang Clan? They don't sound so tough!" Perona crossed her arms.

To the side, even Dr. Hogback, and Kenji looked on with curiosity.

"I wish you never had to know Perona. The Wu Tang Clan was founded a little more than twenty years ago, around the same time Wano fell to, well, you know who. The point is, it's the most feared assassin group in all of the underworld. Ten people formed from the worlds ashes to spread bloody murder and mayhem. There isn't a yakuza, or gangster who hasn't heard of them.

When it comes to massacres, this group of fellows taught those higher ups in the World Government a thing or two. For the last decade, they've been particularly silent, but that's not to say their work hasn't shown up here and there over the years. Looking at that guys corpse one more time, he reminds me of a wanted poster I once saw in the papers. I never knew him as Kōshirō, to me, and everyone subscribed to the special underworld newspaper, he was known as the Buddha of Samsara. One meeting with him, and you'll be ten steps ahead of everyone else on your journey to the after life!

And we killed one of the founding members! These men are known for disrespecting all that is holy and sacred. They've successfully assassinated Kings, Celestial Dragons, Vice-Admirals, even an Admiral has been killed when they teamed up!"

"Well then, how do we stop them?" Kenji, pale as a sheet voiced his concern.

"No one knows where they're based…even the Buddha of Samsara was on a dinky little island like this, way out here in the boondocks of East Blue. They could be anywhere, at any time. If there's anyone who knows how dangerous an intangible enemy could be, it's me. Damnit! Damnit damnit damnit!" Absalom looked down at the ground, and kicked his gun away in frustration. He lost his composure like I'd never experienced. The anger in his voice was laced with depression.

"It's not like anyone even knows, right? It was just us and that stinky old man in the field, right?" Perona spoke up, the nervous energy in the room made her stand on edge.

"Ahh ha ha, I wish that were true, but, uhh, yesterday, I found this. I was going to bring it up after the meeting, but things developed to this point." Held up in Absalom's hands was a recording den den mushi.

All the while this was going on, I was tapping my fingers away at my armrest in thought.

"Absalom, you, Kuro, and Saga will ransack Kōshirō's home and dojo for any leads we might have for this Wu Tang Clan. I don't know exactly who this enemy is, but I'll crush them like all the rest." At the end, I spit the words out. If I had to fight another nine opponents of Kōshirō's caliber unprepared, I might as well jump into the ocean and kill myself.

"Right, and here's your shadow back Saga. This silence is very much unlike you. You you're your blood pumping, something to set you straight. After this assignment with Absalom, your bandit camp, and pirate clearing duty is to begin. Take El Drago, fifty of the hulk zombies, and a further hundred generalist zombies with you on one of my spare pirate ships. Likewise, Kenji, you'll lead Golass, that platoon of hulk zombies you trained with, as well as an additional hundred generalists. You two boys hurry off now." I shooed them away with my hand.

Right when I was going to address Absalom, Perona interrupted me.

"Moria-samaaa, what about my reward? I've been a good girl, ate all my vegetables, and id the training you had stupid Red supervise! I even did all that double training stuff to keep Kenji around!"

"Ki shi shi shi, and because of you, we're now in this current predicament. What with the Wu Tang Clan and all. As a reward, you can take the same amount of zombies with you, and clear out the bandits and pirates nearby. Ah, and don't attack the places marked on this map."

"But Moria-samaaa." Perona had tears in her eyes, and her lip quivered. She lowered her head shading out her eyes.

"Not bad kid! When we have a moment of peace, I'll see about getting Dr. Hogback to stitch up some more cute things for you." I rubbed the top of her head in affection.

"Yes!" Sparkles in her eyes, she took off with Kumashi.

"Such a simple girl." I smiled at her exit.

"I'll have to be extra attentive when I stitch something cute for her. Maybe Cindry-chan has some ideas?" Hogback rubbed his chin.

"She'll grow up into a maneater, that's for sure. Ah, if only I had such a girl to call my own." Absalom scratched his chest above the heart.

"Now that the kids are gone, there shouldn't be any drama to get in the way of business. Absalom, I noticed the Germa 66 fleet is missing today. Is the factory complete? Did we deploy spy rats onto their ships before they left?"

"It's been completed Captain. All I'm waiting on is for the finalized designs from Hogback, and his, err, Cindry-chan. We have a small labour shortage after our latest scuffle, but it's not enough to stop the work at the factory. We may be low however for our next large scale battle. I suggest we get new shadows, and new zombies ASAP. And yeah, I released no less than a dozen of those little guys onto his ships. Not only that, we've received reports from the rats you spread in the Goa Kingdom. They found several abandoned mines, and quarries that could suit your needs." Now in business mode, Absalom left behind much of his usual temper in favor of focusing on our conversation.

"Duly noted, I have an idea on how to get more shadows quickly that I'll introduce later. In terms of raw materials required for creating a zombie, many of the body parts required can be recycled from the battle yesterday. Additionally, our new monster trio are going to be responsible for bringing back bandits and pirates. Their shadows or corpses will help make up for our losses. Dr. Hogback, your current priority is to finish those designs for the factory. Any additional income those products produce is invaluable to our cause. Not only that, but I have dreams of bullet resistant, if not outright bullet proof clothing, and even something to do with hot air balloons."

"Balloons Moria-sama?" Hogback asked in a befuddled voice.

"Yes Dr. Hogback, balloons, they could change the way we live our lives forever. However, it's not something we need to discuss now. When you finish your work at the factory, I need you to work around the clock on another project. I need the zombie corpses from last battle to be patched up, and have the non-zombie corpses recycled. Patching up Fu Manchu, and John are a priority. I cannot stress enough how amazing your creations are Dr. Hogback. They're an inspiration to us all. I'd be very appreciative to once more see the work of your creative genius." I hit Hogback both with the carrot, and stick, flattery, and work.

"I'll get on it right away. Come Cindry-chan, we have greatness to achieve!" Wiping some sweat from his forehead, Hogback grasped Cindry's hand, and rushed out of my room at doubletime.

Like always, Absalom was last in my room after a big meeting.

Finally done with my apple, I tossed it to the waste bin, only to have it go full circle, and land with a plop on my carpet.

"So, tell me Absalom, is the threat of the Wu Tang Clan really as harsh as you made it sound? Have they really killed an Admiral?" I stood from my bean bag chair, and looked out the balcony. Several birds playfully chirped to one another in the mid afternoon air.

Absalom leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper. "I didn't want to say it in front of the others, because it could dampen morale, but years ago, when a Shichibukai died, it wasn't an accident. The former crewmate of Roger, and world famous swordmaster, Kozuki Oden is rumored to have been killed by those people. You know who is also rumored to have ties with them."

Kozuki who? Absalom is looking at me like this should be common knowledge to me. But I'm utterly clueless! And no, I don't know who!

"Oh, of course! Oden! I always wondered what happened to him! You're saying the Wu Tang did in someone who was a strong member of Rogers crew?!" I feigned shock, and understanding.

"Yes! I'm glad you get it Captain! That's why I follow you, you're the brains, and I'm the muscle!" Absalom pointed at himself with a thumb, and grinned fiercely.

"R-right, well I'll be here holding down the fort while you scout out Kōshirō's home on Kuraigana Island. Oh by the way, since you'll be going out, I have the perfect mission for you! I may not be a Lannister, but I'll try my best to pay my debts."

"A Lani-what? Wait, this means, not more work! Moria-samaaa!"

"Hush, it's for your own good. You need to live a little, get some fresh air. Staying indoors all day, or directing zombies to work can't be healthy."

"B-but, making coffee on a moving ship, it's impossible!"

"Bon-voyage, happy sails."

"My coffee!"

I spent the next two weeks in Goa Kingdom's town square generating good will by healing people of their physical ailments. This time around, I didn't pay anyone to help along. There was a line of willing volunteers to help the injured out, and donate their shadow. Specifically, many of the people I had fixed last week came back this time around to help out their neighbors. In my experience, those most effected would most often be some of the best givers. I'd heard about tons of cases, where someone's family member was ill with some disease, and needed a transplant. After a donor came forward, often times, the healthy family member would then choose to donate their own cells, or organs. In this way, a circle of good will could be created.

As the facilitator of all this, I once again wasn't here just to generate good will among my subjects.

"Okay, go ahead and sit right there, I'm going to try something new this time. When I take your shadow, you should feel weak, but won't pass out. How about you try my new treatment?" I asked the shadow donator.

"Yer tellin me I don't have to pass out to heal hem? Whell why not?!" The donator answered in joy.

Smiling in response, I pulled out my scissors, and with a snip took a quarter of his shadow and inserted it into the burn victim. Observing the results, it was slightly disappointing. The burn victim that received a quarter of a shadow lost the majority of his burns, however some traces still remained.

"Can you try moving the arm that was injured? Do you still feel some pain?" I held a clipboard, ready to take notes.

"It's mightily reduced yer lordship, but ah, could you ah." The burn victim licked his lips trying to ask me if I could use the entire shadow to heal him, but appeared hesitant, because of my nobility. That's part of it, and maybe because I'm Gecko Motherfucking Moria. It could be either reason why he's tongue tied honestly.

"Let's try this." Taking a further half of the donators shadow, I plunged it into the burn victim.

"How about now?" Looking at him, it appears all visible damage has receded.

"Heh heh, thanks yer excellency! Let's go Jenkins!" With a bow, the now healthy man dragged a wobbly Jenkins out of the pavilion.

-Patients with light symptoms require part of the shadow, using the entire thing could be a waste.- I wrote down on the clipboard.

Hmm, that guy left before I could return his shadow to him. He's currently roaming around with only a quarter of his shadow. This will make an excellent test case! I pulled a zombie rat out of one of my pockets. At this rate, I didn't leave home without at least a handful. "Search for the man with a reduced shadow, he should be nearby, and is named Jenkins. His one stand out feature is his bright red bow-tie on his threadbare grey linen clothes. Observe him for any abnormalities, such as a weakness or sensitivity to light. Go!"

In between sessions, I took a ten minute break. This was the perfect time for me to meditate, and focus on the world around me. Shadow reading, observation haki, they were both used for one of the best boredom killers known to man. Gossip!

"I heard Hans the other day proposed to Grettle. It will be a lovely marriage!"

"Did they now?! Aren't they the two who, claimed that, as children escaped that horrible witches candy castle. They said that they were going to have their souls stolen, but tricked the witch to eat some cake instead. Those two don't belong in Goa Kingdom, a couple of loons!"

"I think it's sweet, hah hah!" I could barely make out the blurry laughing face of a man. Based on his voice and bearing, he must be middle aged. The slump in his posture indicates he has a broken leg. The left? No, the right!

"You're an idiot Joe." I heard the sharp slap of a facepalm. This mans face was filled with pockmarks.

"O'really, if I'm such an idiot, then what about your cousin? He's still a mountain bandit, even after the Prime Minsters declaration?"

"It's pronounced Prime Minister. Kami, some people. And this is this, that is that. My cousin is his own man. Although…I heard he got captured by…them!" I could barely make out what the pockmarked man had said. His whisper was so quiet, I had to focus to the max to hear him over the din of the crowd waiting outside my pavilion, not to mention the general noises of hawkers, and street vendor's so close to the city square.

"THEM. Whose them?!" Joe screeched to the air.

"Damnit Joe, it's who's. As in who is. Besides, you should say Who are they?" The pockmarked man tried to keep things quiet and on the down low.

"Fuckitall, I said whose them, and I meant it! Whose them?!"

Indeed, who are these people that have got this pockmarked man so secretive about? I leaned towards them, focusing extra hard on the next few words about to be spoken. Am I under threat of the Wu Tang Clan, and just don't know it? It took every fiber of my will power not to rush out of the tent, grab the man, and rush back to base for a swift interrogation.

"They call them the kingdom's executioners. Legally sanctioned enforcers of the Prime Ministers will. They say if you come across Demon Blade, run. Don't even try to fight it. Everyone who runs into him gets sliced in half. Everywhere he goes, it's followed by the most horrid shrieking voice. The other enforcer, he's called Hero. Rumor has it, he's nearly as tall as a giant. All the women bandits I've asked said he's got a killer figure. Everyone who runs into him gets taken prisoner. Most of them end up in a Marine holding cell, however, all those fellows without bounties simply disappear…" The pockmarked man shook and shivered. I could feel the fear coming off of him in waves.

"Now you'done it! You've been walking in circles! Them, whose them, then you say that 'they call them..' whose they!"

"If you weren't married to my sister Joe, if you didn't bring her happiness, you have no clue, no clue at all. Maybe if I pray to the Devil of the Sea, He'll set Despresso to haunt you at night. You'll be so tired of living, you'll want to commit suicide."

"Now I know yer lyin, what kinda idjit would be called Despre-"

Hmm, what's this? Intruders?

"Cipher Pol. What have you come here for?"

At my utterance, three figures in white suits utilized one of the six powers, soru, and seemingly appeared through space and time to stand behind me.

Not to be outdone, I teleported behind the three of them, swapping places with Doppleman. The shadows of the three Cipher Pol agents slowly, very slowly, almost imperceptibly dragged across the floor in my direction.

Jumping forward, and turning in my direction, I got a full frontal view of the trio. From left to right, they wore masks to hide their identities. The one on the far left had a mimes face, a yellow collar, and wore a red/white striped hat. The agent to my right, the tallest of the bunch, who came up to my chin, had a red mask, surrounded by sunflower patterned black hair? Finally, the one in the middle, who I could only assume was their leader wore a bowler hat, and his great coat had a blue scarf on top with a blue polka dot pattern. His mask had one eye black, and the other white. I hazily recognized them as mooks from the Dressrosa arc. CP-0.

Without directly answering my question, the one in the middle began speaking in a slow, deliberate drawl. "You know. Slavery is illegal. It's a crime punishable by death."

The agent's shadows continued to travel towards me at a snail's pace.

"Don't make me repeat myself a second time." My face broke out into a mad grin.

"Should you find any such activities. Be sure to report them to the proper authorities. Namely. Cipher Pol."

At this point, the three shadows had reached me, and I held them in my grasp. The agent's however, remained unphased, they didn't make a single move.

"Boring. One of these days, you're going to play with a fire to big to be put out." I released my grasp, and like a spring being released, the shadows zipped back to their owners. I wasn't the only person to conduct loyalty tests after all.

"The World Government is fortunate to have a loyal follower like you. Take this." Tossing a letter my way like a shuriken, I caught it, causing my hand to sting a little bit. Bastard through that thing imbued with haki. Right when he threw the letter, they disappeared. I never took my eyes off of them as they soru'd away.

"Try hards." Attempting to divert my attention so they can disappear when I'm not looking at them. CP-0 just tried to pull a Batman on me. Like the masks didn't key me in to what kind of goons these guys were. Oldest trick in the book.

Now let's see what this letter is about.

-Gecko Moria, Royal Shichibukai, you have been summoned effectively immediately to take part in a gathering of Shichibukai…Impel Down escapees…great honor…we are gladdened by your steps to safeguard our kingdom…Goa Kingdom has a history of free expression…Subversive elements have been spotted in your current location…In these trying times, anything could happen. We take the safety and security of our Shichibukai very seriously. Regards.-

A letter personally delivered by the World Governments top wet works unit. Ordinarily, I'd ignore a summons by the World Government, seemed like it was common for only Doflamingo to be present at these things. Although in the movies, Mihawk seemed to be at every single event. Should I go? With that one agent talking about my dark secret, it could be that they know about my prisoners in the Freezer Block. However, I think the agent was making more of an educated guess, based around my activities, and issuing a warning. Considering I have a near one hundred percent zombie force, I don't know who could've told them.

Hmm, better make more spy rats, some might say its paranoia, but when the Cipher Pol can swoop down on you with barely any forewarning, than shit could hit the fan at any time. Better to have and not need, then need and not have.

"Puru puru puru" Ah, seems I have a call.

"Moria-sama! I completed the mission." Absalom sounded intensely happy, like a man dying of thirst that had finally found water.

"So, you've found leads on the Wu Tang Clan? Where are they hiding?"

"Ah, that. Well, yes, and no. We didn't find anything at the dojo, however, Saga remembered something, and now we have a possible lead." Absalom sounded hesitant to continue.

"Well, You see, the thing is, this possible lead, it would be in Wano." The den den mushi cringed after Absalom said that. As if it was about to be struck at any moment.

"…"

"You're absolutely certain on this?" After the silence stretched, I finally replied.

"100% it sounded like a credible lead, but with that kid, who knows what's running through his mind? You'd have to question him yourself Captain."

"Maybe another time, there's a Shichibukai meeting I've been requested to attend."

"You're not actually thinking about going this time, right Captain? I thought you said those things were for government arse kissers?"

"…"

"Captain?"

"I'll see you in a few days."

"Uhh, sorry Cap-"

Click

If the rumors are true, Saga should be clearing out bandits right about now. I'll have plenty of time to question him after this World Government shenanigans. No use putting it off till later, time for me to head out, and answer this summons. Here's hoping it's nothing like Marineford and I don't have to challenge a Yono or their crew. Hell, maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe I can socialize more with my peers? Images of a laughing Doflamingo as ducks fell from the sky, and hatred beyond reason being sent my way from Hancock. The way they extorted me for my information on Blackbeard. Even Mihawk was complicit! Aw, who am I kidding, those guys are a pain in the ass to deal with!

AN: Absalom is an unreliable narrator, and Moria doesn't have perfect knowledge of One Piece. Saying now, he's mostly familiar with the big things up to Wholecake island. Some things that may not be as important, like Momonosuke are ignored for the most part. Who even liked or was interested in that guy pre-Wano anyway? Heck, I find him annoying now.

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